Thank you very much, Kooyeen. Mr M said, "Look for dropped or weakened
Hs in
unstressed syllables:
inhibition, rehabilitation, etc." My understanding of this sentence is that the H is never dropped when the syllable is stressed and it may or may not be dropped or reduced in the unstressed syllables of
some words. In such words, the H is still there in careful speech but tends to be dropped in rapid speech. Do you think this is more accurate?
Other words with an H that may be reduced/dopped that I can find: prehistoric, prohibition (but not prohibitive because hi is stressed).
My dictionary also says the H may or may not be dropped in falsehood and leasehold in British English.
I suppose annihilate, Cohen, etc should be put into a different category like vehicle because the H is always silent. But such silent H all occur at unstressed syllable, right? Hour is an odd man out. So, I guess, the stress pattern does have something to do with the possibility of whether the H is dropped (or silent), do you think so?
I know the weak forms of "he", "him", "his", "her", "them" in rapid speech. Just double checked my dictionary. Every single word ending with "-house" has the H pronounced. So, I assume the H's in such -house words aren't reduced even in rapid speech, are they?